The Postal Service and Customs and Border Protection fell short of expectations from Congress last year when it came to stopping illegal opioids from coming into the country through mail and packages.
A year later, two senators remain concerned these agencies haven’t done more to tighten the flow of drugs, such as fentanyl, from coming into the United States, despite championing legislation that gives them the tools to do so.
The Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act Congress passed in 2018 required foreign post offices to include advanced electronic data (AED) on all U.S.-bound packages coming through the Postal Service, starting in January 2020.
CBP, however, has granted waivers to more than 130 countries, giving than an additional year before having to comply with the STOP Act’s data requirements for mail and packages.
